Chương 43: Chapter 42

Just as the system was focusing on Lucian for a moment, it suddenly realized something.

"Wait, no. It's not time for this." It immediately turned toward the others.

"Host, all of you, you need to evacuate." Then it pointed at Damien.

"You. You need to take over the host and somehow get everybody out of here. Something is going to happen tonight, and I don't like it. I don't know what, but the barrier of having a mistake was not something anyone would casually make."

"What?"

"I just... I don't know." The system hesitated.

"How many people have already gone and shown their talents?" Nina asked.

"Almost everybody, right?"

"I think," Lily replied, "from what I heard, only about a quarter are left."

"Has anybody used magic as part of their talent?"

"That's forbidden as a talent, right?" Nina asked.

"No, it's actually not," Lily replied.

"Shoot. Damien, can you take over?" Nina spoke, she didn't know what was happening but she trusted the system.

"Okay." After hearing the situation, Damien quickly rushed forward, trying to gain full control of the body before anything happened. But just as he fully regained consciousness... It was already too late. The person on stage was the very person they had been trying to stop. Although, Damien did not know that. He had been prepared to tell everyone to evacuate or stop anyone from using magic. Instead, he saw a person on stage already casting it. The system almost screamed.

"Stop him!" Damien was just about to run forward when a man suddenly appeared and sliced the young man's head clean off. Damien froze. The noble ladies and gentlemen screamed in terror. Only Fiona Boswe remained relatively composed, though even she looked toward the stage in shock. However, almost immediately, a frown formed on her face. After recognizing the person on the stage, she turned toward the crowd and raised her voice.

"Everyone!"

"Please remain calm. Everything is under control."

"The person on the stage is a knight."

"This area is no longer safe. Everyone, you need to evacuate to a secure location immediately." She pointed toward the attendants.

"Everyone, form groups of four and follow the attendants. Make sure you stay with people you know. Keep track of everyone in your group as we move to the safe area."

"Do not push. We will all get through this safely." Hearing Fiona's strong, confident voice, and recognizing her as one of the highest-ranking nobles present, everyone quickly calmed down. The crowd quietly formed groups of four, keeping track of one another as they prepared to evacuate.

"Hurry..." Damien, having overheard Fiona's announcement, looked toward her. Seeing the seriousness in Fiona's gaze as she approached the stage, he could not help but frown. Something about the two figures... The man who had just assassinated the young noble... The disaster the system had warned about... And Fiona's unusually serious expression... Damien felt as though he was missing something. Just as he was about to move closer, a group of three young ladies approached him.

"Would you like to join us? We need a fourth person." Hearing that, Damien could only nod silently before leaving with the three young ladies. However, from the corner of his eye, he noticed Fiona perform a proper noble curtsy toward the hooded figure she had claimed was merely a royal knight. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. Something is not right. But he had no time to dwell on it.

The three girls, filled with nervous energy, swiftly ushered him toward the designated safe area. … After some time, they arrived at the safe house where the nobles had been instructed to gather. However, throughout the entire journey, the system remained restless. It was still visibly anxious, unable to fully calm down after what had happened. To ease its worries, it slowly began recreating the barrier it had observed during the banquet. Damien, being the one currently in control of the body, could not leave.

However, everyone who remained within Nina's consciousness could see how frantic the system was. Instead of teasing it, they quietly joined in, helping it construct the magic and reinforce the barriers. After becoming somewhat accustomed to the process, the system expanded the range of protection until it covered an area the size of an entire football field. Even then, it was not satisfied. The system continued creating layer after layer of barriers, refusing to trust that a single defense would be enough.

By the time Damien reached the safe house, with the help of Nina, Lily, Elias, and Lucian, each of them adding their own adjustments and ideas to the barrier, he had practically become a walking fortress. According to the system, if the barriers remained inactive, there would be no danger. However, if they needed to activate, there would be no reason for anyone to worry. Once they arrived at the safe house, the situation inside was still chaotic.

Most of the higher-ranking nobles had already left, while some remained behind to continue monitoring the situation. The older nobles were still inside the ballroom, ensuring that all remaining threats were neutralized. Because of this, aside from a few parents who remained behind, the safe house was mostly filled with children and servants. Damien looked around the area and frowned slightly. He stepped out of the body before returning to his consciousness space.

Then, he grabbed Lucian and threw him back into the consciousness area. Afterward, Damien went to study barrier creation with the system. He was not about to deal with organizing everyone. Lucian, who had suddenly been placed into the situation, looked at the disaster in front of him and felt his eyes twitch. However, after noticing a nearby stool, he grabbed it and moved it toward the center of the area. Standing on top of it, he raised his voice.

"Everyone, listen closely."

"Everything is under control. To ensure everyone's safety, look at the people you arrived with. The four people you are grouped with should stay together. Bring your seating arrangements closer to the center, and we will remain here together to protect one another."

"For those who understand magical barriers or possess defensive amulets, please move toward the outside. Some will also be placed within the inner areas to create multiple layers of protection."

"We will work together to ensure everyone's safety." With some guidance, Lucian was able to organize everyone. Those with offensive abilities were placed on the outer layer, prepared to respond if anything broke through. Those with barriers or defensive items were placed behind them, creating another protective layer. Even the servants were included within the formation because they needed protection as well. At that moment, nobody cared about status or class. What mattered was ability.

"If you can fight, prepare for the outside. If you are unable to fight, remain inside where it is safer." After shouting his instructions, Lucian suddenly coughed. A mouthful of blood landed on his hand. Staring at it, his eyes twitched. System, Lily... you did not change this fragile body. He wanted to scream. Even during a crisis, Lily still refused to remove control of the physical state of the body.

However, what Lucian did not know was that after seeing Lily's fragility, the nobles who had previously questioned why they should care had already stopped thinking that way. Meanwhile, the system continued creating barriers. At first, it focused almost entirely on protecting the host, creating smaller and smaller layers around Nina. However, after hearing Lucian's words about protecting everyone, the system felt a slight sense of regret.

If Lucian's reasoning had not made sense, it would have only maintained the protection around the host, leaving the surrounding area with only basic defenses. Perhaps around seven barriers at most. But after stepping outside of the host's immediate protection and analyzing the situation, the system calculated the size of the area and began preparing additional barriers. Using the system's understanding of barrier structures, the group worked together to create the necessary patterns.

Once they were complete, the designs were passed to the system, which finalized the construction. Using the improved barrier pattern from the banquet, they created a total of two hundred barriers. One hundred surrounded the host. Fifty surrounded the group of individuals gathered together. The final fifty covered an area the size of a football field. The system was taking no chances. However, just as it finished creating the final layer, something appeared.

Even though the summoner had been killed, a summoning circle still emerged. And from it, a dragon appeared. But this dragon was different from a normal dragon. It lacked a tail. One of its arms was also missing. The incomplete summoning circle had been unable to properly summon such a powerful creature. The system, Nina, and the other siblings who had remained awake instead of returning to the subconscious state stared at the creature. Only one summoning circle had been removed.

They had stopped the person from completing what should have been the final summoning circle. So why had this happened? The system, still focused on protecting the host, suddenly remembered something.

"Oh, right." It looked toward everyone.

"The reason I was in that state... the reason I recognized that high-level barrier magic is because I discovered an elemental summoning magic hidden within the barrier at the banquet." Everyone froze.

"Wait."

"Is that why the summoning circle seemed to be outside instead of inside the ballroom?"

"It must be." Elias thought carefully. When the boy attempted to complete the final summoning circle, it should have summoned the dragon inside the ballroom. The barrier would have activated and trapped everyone inside, making escape nearly impossible unless they belonged to the family that created the barrier. Because once a barrier was activated, even one incorrect element could cause everyone inside it to become trapped. Only the caster and their bloodline would remain unaffected.

That was why people rarely hired outside barrier creators. Barrier magic was powerful, but it was also a double-edged sword. Unless someone shared the creator's bloodline, the consequences could be disastrous.